#unfortunate that Barou isn’t here

[galaxynajma]

Isagi probably feeling like a victorian man seeing ankles for the first time but instead of ankles it’s his two biggest rivals big strong thicc juicy biteable "watermelon crushing" thighs

[vennilavee]

red card

pairing: barou shoei x reader

summary: italy is one of the most romantic places in the world. unfortunately, it hasn't quite felt like that in some time.

warnings: BLLK MANGA SPOILERS !!!

word count: 3k

a/n: happy valentine's day!! just a fun miscommunication fic to be my first bllk fic...im running away

“Working with him is such a pain, like, who takes interviews only at 4:35 AM? Who does he think he is, anyway?” 

“Well… he is the highest goalscorer in the entire league right now,” Mari counters, “I think that warrants that he can make some demands-”

“Oh, you’re just like the rest of them, aren’t you?” you roll your eyes playfully, shoving your colleague and friend’s shoulder.

“Whatever,” she shrugs, “Better start packing, considering your flight is in…seven hours.”

In the last few years, you’ve been to Turin, Italy almost too many times to count. Sometimes for your job, and sometimes for…other reasons. Though in the last six months, it’s been mainly for work, no thanks to your stupidly talented striker boyfriend who just coincidentally happens to play for the Ubers.

You wouldn’t trade your sports journalist job for anything else, but with the combination of his always hectic schedule and your growing responsibilities as a senior journalist, it’s been next to impossible to spend any extra time together.

Other than squeezing in an interview at 4:30 AM just so you have an extra twenty minutes with him before training starts.

You scoff as you try to conceal the fatigue under your eyes with concealer. You’d love to go to Rome, Florence or Venice, or anywhere really, with your boyfriend. But he’s stubborn and rigid in his routines. You’re not ungrateful to be with your handsome, protective boyfriend with a dry humor that only very few appreciate. You just want a little more.

So you’ve been to all of those places, and then some, by yourself or with your coworkers or friends. Pretty much everyone except for him.

You’re trying to be understanding. He’s a globally known soccer player and gets recognized everywhere and anywhere he goes. All he wants is a day off, a day to relax and spend time and the offseason with you. Is it awful that you want a little more?

The relationship itself isn’t terribly new or terribly old. Maybe the distance makes it feel newer than it is.  But you’ve known each other since childhood, both of your families being friends and both of you running around the soccer circuit since a young age. His days in blue lock coincided with your days of playing soccer for your high school. That man with the red streaks in his hair has been in your life for nearly as long as you’ve been in it, and you don’t want to change anything about that.

You sigh and shrug your coat on, mentally preparing yourself to ignore Barou Shouei’s attempts at kissing you before you take the mic.

“Hello, Barou-san,” you say stiffly, pushing your hand out for him to shake, “It’s nice to see you before the sun has risen.” The vein in his forehead throbs at your indifference and you grin, letting the facade melt. It’s been two months since you’ve seen him. You suppose you can wait a little longer to fight with him.

“You didn’t text me when you landed,” he says, “Or when you got here-”

“I landed an hour and a half ago and came here straight from the airport,” you roll your eyes, “Someone only takes interviews at this ungodly hour and I don’t want any special treatment.”

“If I want to give you special treatment, then I will,” Barou says, pulling you in by your forearm and wrapping you in a bone-crushing hug. You inhale deeply, immediately feeling sleepy as his warmth embraces you.

“Don’t make it sound like such a threat,” you mumble, pressing your cheek into his shoulder. Your fingers thread through his longer hair, resting at the nape of his neck. He must not yet have applied his cologne, because he smells fresh.

“Wanna take this interview in bed?” you joke, pulling away from him just an inch.

“How unprofessional of you,” he says dryly, “I’ll have to inform your superiors.”

You roll your eyes again, grinning when he pulls you in for a proper kiss. His touch makes you weak in the knees, makes you yearn for him even though he’s in your arms. For just a few short days. 

Your heart aches inadvertently.

“I got you tickets for today’s training and tomorrow’s game. I know you don’t need them,” Shouei says, sticking them in your coat pocket, “Let’s get this over with so we can go.”

He squeezes your arm, dark eyes lingering with unspoken and heavy words as he takes your hand in his towards the stadium.

Interviewing with you is always easy, despite having interviewed with you one-on-one only a handful of times. It’s the start of a new season at Ubers (and his third year with the club), and he’s eager to win the league this time. Last season, they came so close.

Barou Shouei did not become the Ubers’ number thirteen  just to come only this far.

He’d gone back home to Japan after the loss last season for a week and stayed with you. Each time he leaves you, it gets harder and harder. But despite his loss, you were promoted to being a senior sports journalist. He was so proud of you, eager to see where your career would take you.

It seemed like the tables had turned and you were the one now traveling more than him. 

But you both make it work, right? With phone calls while you both are in opposing time zones, red eye flights just to see each other for a few hours… You try to go to Italy to see him whenever you can. Even with your increased responsibilities, his schedule is far more rigid than yours.

You’re so in demand now that it’s hard to keep up with two extremely busy schedules. Still- you’re here with your bright eyes and teasing smile, and he doesn’t want to lose a single second not looking at you.

It doesn’t feel like work when it’s with you. Even with the questions about game stats, Snuffy’s leadership, his future at the Ubers and the Ubers future in the league, it never feels like an actual interview. He used to hate giving these interviews until his coach told him he had to. What was the point of it? He’s not the captain, why does he have to deal with the press and the stupid questions?

Until his first interview was with you. 

Even now, when he knows that there is a mountain to climb over with you, it still feels the way it always does. Like a conversation. You’re focused on him, cracking jokes, and Shouei has always liked when your full attention is centered on him after all.

The last time you were in Turin, you didn’t exactly leave on a bright, hopeful note with respect to your relationship. In fact, you left in tears and had changed your flight timing at the last minute so that Shouei purposely wouldn’t be able to see you off. You didn’t want to see him just to fight once again. 

It left a sour taste in your mouth and despite that things are “normal” now, you still feel the fragility of your relationship. It rests in your hands like a delicate bird.

In the last two months, neither of you had brought up the dreaded fight. It’s not the first time this topic has arisen, and you’re sure it won’t be the last. Your excuse for ignoring the issue was that you wanted to talk to him about it in person. His excuse was that if you had a problem then you’d bring it up on your own.

Your harsh words ring clearly in your head:

“Why is it so wrong to just want a little more? You live in Italy- I don’t think I’m asking for too much to go to Rome o-or Florence or Venice or literally anywhere for a few days during your offseason-”

“I can’t just go, everyone else trains during the off-season! How am I supposed to be the best striker if I’m going on vacation with you-”

“Oh, well, don’t sound so disgusted over the prospect of taking a few days off with me-”

“Come on, I didn’t mean that and you know it.”

“Do I? Do I know it? To me, it looks like you don’t want to spend any time with me outside of when it’s convenient for you. We get what? Maybe a few weekends a season? Are you good with a few weekends a season? And when you’re not playing, you don’t want to go anywhere with me. Am I your girlfriend or your sidechick, Shouei?”

“That’s not fair-”

“No, I’ll tell you what’s not fair. You want me to be happy with breadcrumbs.”

“You knew what you were getting into!”

“That’s such a cop-out and you know it!” 

Shouei looks at you with hardly any emotion on his face, save for the downturn of his lips. You close your eyes shut to calm yourself down so that you don’t say something you regret. He wants to reach for you, to comfort you even though he’s the one who made you cry. But his feet stay planted and he watches you crumple.

“Don’t cry,” he all but begs you, finally gathering you in his arms, “We’ll figure it out. Just… don’t cry-”

“I don’t know how to not be upset with you, with this,” you mumble tearfully as he rubs your back.

“I know,” Shouei says, curling a hand around your cheek, “I know.”

“Hey,” you mumble, with heated cheeks, “Happy game day, I guess.” You thrust a bouquet of fresh red roses that you picked up from your favorite floral vendor around the corner from the training grounds.

“What a loser,” Shouei says fondly, putting you in a light affectionate headlock, “You’re gonna make me late for warm-up.”

“Well, I’m such a big fan of Dortmund that this was my plan all along,” you reply, “If I can distract you, then they have a better chance of winning, don’t they?”

“Whatever,” he rolls his eyes, turning you in his arms to greet you properly.

“Heard Isagi’s out for blood and redemption today,” you murmur as his lips press against the column of your throat.

His ears perk up and he’s torn between questioning you about Isagi or ignoring Isagi’s name coming out of your lips.In the end, the striker in him wins. Just like you knew it would.

“That’s insider information,” you protest when he grumbles.

“What’s the point of having a journalist girlfriend if I get no secrets out of it,” Shouei glares at you, shoving your shoulder gently.

“The point is that you get this,” you take his hand and press it against your chest, “This,” you press his hand against your crotch, “And this,” finally, you press his hand against your ass. “And my charming, stellar personality.”

“Stop seducing me, you temptress,” he scoffs, pushing away your lingering lips.

“Yeah, yeah. Wouldn’t want to ruin your gameday ritual,” you reply, “I’ll see you later, honey. Have a good game.”

You turn on your heel to leave the locker room, but not before smacking his ass and giving him a kiss good luck.

This field, and every other field in the world, is close enough to home to you as your own barely furnished apartment in Tokyo is. Fresh grass, clean white lines and adrenaline swirls in the air as you stand in front of the camera, getting ready for the half-time program.

One of your favorite moments in front of the camera is when Julian Loki nearly bowled you over in pursuit of an overhead ball. He’d given you a quick side hug with a smug grin after the game, but ever since then, you’ve maintained a safe distance from the border of the field. The last thing you need is to cause a scene when you’re not even one of the twenty-two players on the field.

You’re wearing one of Shouei’s jersey under your emerald green blazer and you find it extraordinarily difficult to not turn your head to search for him as he walks off the pitch and into the tunnel for halftime. The Ubers are down by one goal and you can envision how tense his shoulders are while he mouths off at his defense for doing a “fucking awful job”.

It’s rare that you’ve ever gone down in the tunnel to see him while you’re on the clock. Chewing on your bottom lip, you debate on it. Should you, shouldn’t you… It’s not about you, is it? His frustration on the field? Even he could admit that he wasn’t playing at his best today.

If he was feeling unsettled about the lingering aftermath of the fight, he had every opportunity to open his stupid mouth anyway. How often are you supposed to have the same fight anyway? 

Oh, who are you lying to? In every universe, you want to have this fight with him. Because it’s him.

It’s just a rough patch.

You hope he can telepathically hear your words of encouragement from inside the tunnel.

[divide]

In the end, you don’t approach the tunnel but the Ubers end up winning the game in a comeback that has you and the entire stadium on your toes. Of course Shouei scored the equalizer and the winning goal with an insane fake out and a strike with incredible power, in true dramatic fashion.

You’re prepping in your tent to begin the post-game interviews with the captains of each team. Your heart is still racing from the last minute winning goal, seeing the strike sailing through the air behind your eyelids.

As Marc Snuffy walks into the tent with his chest heaving in exhilaration and a big grin, he’s roughly shoved to the side by none other than Barou Shouei. Before you can tell your cameraman to stop recording or before you can berate Shouei for nearly taking down your entire tent with his massive body, or for shoving his captain to the side like a sack of potatoes-

He crowds your personal space, giant hands cupping your cheeks and his thumbs rubbing your skin. His dark eyes dilate as he takes you in- his angel on the field in his jersey, his lucky number thirteen. You gasp in surprise as he presses his lips to yours cheekily, daring you to deepen the kiss.

You can vaguely hear his teammates hollering in the background, seeing their ever so serious striker kiss his mysterious, private girlfriend.

“Hey, I’ll see you at home, alright?” Shouei offers you a rare, small smile as he rubs your chin with his thumb.

All you can do is nod with a sheepish smile while your cameraman stares at you, stunned.

And when you watch the interview again, you flush at the reflection of your lovesick eyes and his yearning embrace.

Nerves oddly seize you as you approach Shouei’s luxurious apartment building. It’s about four times bigger than the size of your own. It reflects his soccer player status and salary, you suppose. He’s been here for just as long as he’s been playing with the Ubers but he seemed to only care about decorating it in the last year or so. Ever since you’ve been around.

He’d told you he’d see you at home. Implying that this was your home, too. In truth, it's not your home at all, but the notion still makes you feel funny. Like butterflies fluttering in your belly, as if you can’t believe he still wants to be with you. He never makes you feel like you’re too much, even when you doubt yourself.

You didn’t mean to make yourself almost cry as you approach his unit with hesitant steps.

Shouei yanks the door open nearly off its hinges exactly one second after you text him announcing your arrival. He immediately pulls you inside, takes your coat and your bag and ushers you out of your shoes. Then, he kisses you in greeting.

It’s different from the kiss he laid upon you at the field. It’s softer, more docile.

“I bet your dm’s are flooded after that stunt you pulled today,” you mumble against his lips, peering up at him while he scoffs.

“Yeah, my agent is getting paid her worth today. At least one of us is private on social media,” Shouei says, sighing into your embrace as you wrap your arms around his neck.

“I guess I’m happy to be your mystery girl until the day comes.”

Shouei stares at you long and hard, his lips in an imperceptible line. Your heart pounds in your ears as he stares straight through you with darkened nearly red eyes, reaching into the layers and layers that you attempt to hide away from him. It’s not like you to be quiet and demure around him but you’re on unsteady ground. The words don’t come out of your mouth, wilting in your throat like dried up sunflowers.

But you look over his shoulder briefly, peering into the open space that leads into the kitchen and the dining room only to see two lit candlesticks and a bouquet of your favorite flowers at the center of his dinner table. A romantic burgundy glow illuminates the room along as the purple and orange streaks from the sunset filter in through the windows.

The question is written all over your face as you struggle not to let your bottom lip quiver. You’re usually the one who’s adept at words, but here you are unable to formulate a single one. 

“Stop crying,” he says gruffly, already wiping at your cheeks. You sniffle and laugh wetly as you hide your face from him.

“We both live in this insane world. I don’t want it to pull us apart like it has for so many others. And we can’t give up our careers but I can’t give up on you either,” you admit, feeling a weight lift off your chest.

“I know,” Shouei says simply, “We left on a shitty note last time, and I’m not heartless you know. At least, not for you.”

He grins wolfishly at you when you chuckle. He remains quiet for a beat, rubbing his thumbs into the nape of your neck soothingly until your sniffles lessen. Fidgeting with the collar of your sweater, Shouei hesitates.

“Uh,” he begins, “I got this rental in Venice, in June. It’s still a few months out, but you know…”

“You really want to go? With me?”

“No, I want to go with Isagi,” Shouei says flatly, resisting the urge to roll his eyes, “If you’re asking if I want to go with you then I’ve done something wrong here.”

“At least you finally admit it,” you shove his shoulder. It’s a beautiful rental, with big windows and a great view of the city and the water. You’re already thinking about the gondola rides, the nighttime walks, the music. All of it with Shouei.

“And you made dinner and set the table,” you pinch his cheeks (he grimaces), “You are a romantic, after all…”

“Don’t make such a big deal about it, loser,” he scoffs. He kisses you gently as he wraps himself tightly around you. You sigh into his lips happily, already feeling lighter than when you landed in Turin not even seventy-two hours ago.

“Yeah, yeah,” you reply with a sparkling smile. 

Shouei makes a vow to himself to never make you cry in Italy ever again. Twice in two trips was more than enough.

[m1ckeyb3rry]

OMG ITS LITERALLY WHAT WEVE TALKED ABOUT LMFAOOOO the “nikos only 15” and ofc aiku being aiku and Barou being like “can u stfu” also I lowk forgot that the special exhibition art (the colorings you reblogged recently) had niko and aiku tgt LMAO truly destiny

Wait I almost forgot about that moment bc YEAH FR I remember thinking in that moment like “is bro a kdrama watcher????” Nagi truly is an enigma

I’m ngl I was (am..??? I just forgot abt the concern until just now ig) worried that they’d make the entire first episode the wildcard thing but surely not..!!!! Surely not….lowk I don’t think there’s even enough content there to fill whole episode (I hope) only because I really couldn’t gaf about Shidou or igaguri

NO FR IVE BEEN TRYING TO GET PEOPLE ON THE CHIGIRI MAN AGENDA FOR AGES (I say that having not interacted with like any of the fandom) because his hair is the only thing that really sticks out as not typical dude (bro does NOT use 3 in 1 shampoo) but lowk I think that’s also just because of his meticulous/picky nature for things? We see him taking a lot of time for his knee too ofc but other than that he’s such a dude HSHSHS like are we forgetting all the dude bro muscle screaming moments he has to get hyped up with Barou and zantetsu after the 3v3 and leading up to the 4v4 and also he’s had his moments on field too like…fanon characterizations really are the epitome of wrong (oops)

Bro I’m just imagining the two otoyas meeting like you’re typical like multiverse crossover episode hollyhocks like “yeah bro I’m an assassin” and bllk otoyas “like sick dudeee I get hella girls” and hollyhock otoya replies with “ayo that’s my boy, would’ve been me if I weren’t busy killing ppl smh” LMAOOOO

No matter the au Yukimiyas always dying surrounded by idiots LMAOOO he just never wins…the “unfortunately there’s ness” has me howling AHAHAHA real there are no ness enjoyers here

Karasu being a softie and picking up random animals so real and yuki is so done with his shit but POKEMON AU I also forgot we had a section in our convo abt that (not specifically your au but pokemon in general) omg…can you drop some hints from the outline….im Lowk curious what kinda story you’d write i don’t think I’ve ever seen a pokemon au fic (no pressure ofc!! Only if u wanna show it LOL)

LMFAOAOAOAOA YOURE NOT AKAZA IS BRUTAL YOU JUST KILLED THE MAN stop im crying that would’ve been such a funny response (although kinda mean shdgshshs) what is your strat for rejecting these people because i can only imagine you’d have a shit ton of opps if they took your words the wrong way omg

NOOO OUR STREAK it’s ok we can erase this outlier….also lowk I think it’s maybe just the game art style if you showed me a pic of yuki making this face in the manga or in fanart I’d think he looked hot but something about the eye sizing and like his mouth isn’t consistent and throws it off for me…like if they exaggerated his smirk a bit more and adjust the left eye shape to kinda follow the sharper “angry” look as opposed to just leaving it completely normal maybe it’d be better….atp it sounds like im just saying “make a Karasu face” oops

- Karasu anon

LMAOOO RIGHT IT WAS SO PERFECT aiku trying to be the big bro of the ubers but mommy barou is NOTT letting his bs slide 😭 i also love the headcanon of aiku trying to be bffs w barou meanwhile barou has 0 interest and thinks aiku is an idiot (deep down he actually thinks he’s chill but he would NEVER admit that) also poor niko the mdni sign killed me 😩

when he said that i was like 😮 because it was so random??? but honestly he’s so real for that…average nagimira activities are just us rewatching crash landing on you and relating the characters to people we know irl KFNDKSKSK

OKAY if i have to make a prediction they’re going to start the episode with the flashback almost like a prologue?? reo will be the narrator introducing what the scenario is, we see the confrontation + game + outcome, and then we cut back to ego announcing top six and explaining the premise of the third selection ☝🏻 that way the hype for shidou is built up but the rest of the top six are also introduced and we can get right into the third selection from there since there’s also the entire u20 arc that’s supposed to fit into this season so they can’t delay too much

OKAY PLUS CHIGIRI HAS AN OLDER SISTER WHO HE’S REALLY CLOSE WITH as someone who gets along rlly well with my own little brother you KNOW that man has a meticulous skin and haircare routine because i’d literally make fun of him if he didn’t…tbh those are the vibes chigiri gives me 😩 but agreed i mean he’s honestly manlier than isagi (he also has a pretty deep voice) and despite having a “pretty” appearance he doesn’t necessarily act as such ☝🏻 except in official arts but lbr official arts are lowkey the fanon versions of characters half of the time anyways

PLSSS can you imagine the hollyhock characters meeting their current time counterparts 😭 like the two otoyas are just dapping each other up because their living each other’s dreams meanwhile bllk karasu’s just like “wtf i’m the general of the army and eventually become shogun and my best friend is a baddie ⁉️” and hollyhock karasu is like “eh ig so” and bllk karasu’s like “why are you depressed then dawg that’s fire” and hollyhock karasu is like “i miss otoya and y/n ☹️” FJDJDJSJSJ omg poor yukimiya though he’d definitely be like “why tf am i a villain 😭😭😭” meanwhile hollyhock yuki is like “🤷🏻 it was coachella 2016 that was the vibe at the time”

bro save yukimiya he’s actually a victim he needs to become friends w aiku and barou (new diva trio) because idt he can actually take being a trio w karasu and otoya longer…OKAY HEAR ME OUT instead of tabieitaken it’s tabieitaryu (karasu + otoya + SHIDOU i think that would be such a peak dynamic) and then yuki seeks refuge w the ubers or mancity groups because he could easily be close w reo or barou i can rlly see either…ALTERNATIVELY in actual canon let’s see a yukimiya and kunigami team up ☝🏻 GET YUKI OFF THE BENCH, GET US A WILDCARD FLASHBACK, AND LET THE BOYS W THE FUCKED UP BODIES AND DESTRUCTIVE THEMES LINK UP AND SCORE THE FINAL GOAL 🙏🏻 it would be a good way to utilize kunigami i think (since he’s not rlly done much post wildcard) and also to reinforce why yuki was literally number five in the third selection

OFCCC I CAN TALK ABT THE POKÉMON AU i actually wrote it in my notes app so i’ll just type instead of giving screenshots since that’ll end up as a lot 😭

so basically the gist of it is the mc is barou’s younger cousin or sister or smth (rip barou male lead but the familial bond is the main theme of the story so he’s still important) and he disappears to go on a journey when he’s of age and he’s never heard from again!! originally mc doesn’t want to go on a journey but eventually she’s decides she has to in order to find barou ☝🏻 they don’t live close enough to a professor for her to get an actual starter so she takes the sibling of barou’s first pokemon, which is a houndour, so that’s her starter!! she goes through the region in search of barou, collecting badges and meeting the crew (who i will elaborate on in the next paragraph hehe) and catching pokémon/having various misadventures etc etc but eventually they realize an evil team (because is it a pokémon au if there’s no evil team) is after them after originally thinking mc is one of them because of her houndour as they believe the crew is a threat to the team’s goals 😨 it’s eventually revealed when mc breaks into the base that the leader is barou HOWEVER barou is very clearly acting strange and it turns out he actually died right before challenging the champion of the region and the evil team used a ghost pokémon to puppeteer his body so that they could use his team since he basically had the strongest team in the region and would’ve been champion if he didn’t die 😓 the evil team wants to get rid of pokémon training as a system because they believe it takes advantage of the unfortunate (such as nagi) which the mc does agree with but she can’t agree with their methods and especially possessing barou’s corpse 😭 so she and her houndoom kill barou for good which leads barou’s own houndoom to basically kill itself (the rest of his pokémon are inherited by mc and mostly like her because they realize how much she loved barou and how she never stopped looking for him) and this proves aiku’s theory that pokémon do form familial bonds as mc’s houndoom mourns for its brother (also ik i just mentioned nagi and aiku without context but i’ll explain who they are now + their teams and hopefully it’ll make more sense then!!)

so the main group that reader travels with is herself, tullia, otoya, and karasu!! otoya is the descendant of an exiled clan and he’s trying to regain their honor by being a legitimate trainer instead of all sneaky the way his family members were, karasu is the younger brother of the region’s flying-type gym leader (yayoi 🥹) and he ran away from home to prove himself as a trainer in his own right, and tullia is an aspiring pokémon breeder who’s basically training up her own pokémon so people want their offspring?? if that makes sense lol

mc’s team: houndoom [starter], gyarados, aegislash, donphan, galvantula, dragalge

barou’s team: houndoom [starter], pangoro, zoroark, krookodile, sharpedo, weavile

otoya’s team: greninja [starter], ampharos, blissey, sylveon, ninetales, altaria

tullia’s team: infernape, lilligant, vivillon, lanturn, granbull, hitmonchan (all pokémon mentioned to be somehow helpful to people, particularly attractive/used as companions, or, in hitmonchan’s case, having offspring with multiple evolutions [without being basic and just giving her an eevee])

karasu’s team: honchkrow [starter], pidgeot, staraptor, talonflame, garchomp, lucario (he mostly has flying type pokémon because yayoi kept giving him rejected gym pokémon to keep for himself; lucario and garchomp are the only ones he catches himself)

then we have a lot of recurring characters, some who appear more than others (ex nagi has a lot of appearances because he’s my goat whereas hiori and isagi don’t have as many)

yukimiya wants to be a battler like the rest but because of his frail health and eyes he’s forced to be a coordinator and model however he’s actually quite talented at battling so he helps mc in training and move efficiency and whatnot whenever he sees her

team: breloom [starter] , steelix, alakazam, noivern, manectric, azumarill

nagi had like 0 interest in going on a journey or doing anything difficult but a fire burns his house down and leaves him an orphan and the only way he can get any governmental assistance/literally SURVIVE is by becoming a trainer so that’s what he does

team: arcanine [starter], goodra, reuniclus, clefable, whimsicott, snorlax

reo is the son of the current champion and he’s training to be a gym leader and eventually possibly replace his father as the champion

team: gallade [starter], mawile, persian, flygon, cinccino, florges

chigiri used to be a very famous rapidash racer but he has a very bad accident and injures his leg to the point that he can’t race anymore so he also has to become a trainer in order to earn money

team: off-the-track rapidash [starter], zebstrika, dragonite, gorebyss, liepard, pyroar

hiori literally just becomes a trainer so his parents leave him alone and he can have some peace and quiet; i’m thinking he appears in some kind of fossil-related side quest hence why he gets a fossil pokémon

team: kingdra [starter], metagross, nidoqueen, luxray, aurorus, swanna

isagi is completing the trials to become an elite four member so he kinda runs into mc and co every now and then?? he seems to have known barou in the past so mc tries to talk to him about it but isagi doesn’t know what happened to barou; or, if he does, he’s elusive about it and refuses to answer mc’s questions

team: charizard, lapras, stoutland, machamp, leafeon, raichu

aiku is in training to be a pokémon professor and is currently doing research for his thesis about whether pokémon are capable of forming familial bonds on the level that humans do or if it’s more instinctive pack-bonding for them

team: aiku doesn’t really have a team per se since he mostly does catch and release for research purposes but he does have an arbok that stays with him permanently and is his partner in crime and rizz

um…anyways…that was a lot as you can see…LMAOAOA idk who the endgame would be in terms of a love interest (probably nagi if we’re being real) because the main focus is honestly mc and barou’s sibling relationship ☝🏻 i also don’t know who tullia would end up if anyone i just wanted another female main-ish character so it’s not just mc with a bunch of boys 😭

HELP I LITERALLY HAVE A FORMULA FOR REJECTING GUYS tried true and perfected so feel free to steal!! i just say “hey i’m flattered you thought to ask me and i really admire you for speaking up but i’m not interested in you like that. i hope we can still be friends!” (i ghost immediately afterwards though ngl) that only works if they’re straight up abt it otherwise if they’re being sneaky i just ignore/ghost or make up a boyfriend/parental excuse 😭 i have made some opps sadly but for the most part it’s worked out well!!

EEK tbh i’m used to watching some very crunchy animes and gaslighting myself into finding characters attractive so i think my mind just automatically yassified him…like i see the vision and the vision is hot enough that i’m like ok yeah he’s hot LDFHJSJS